“Remoted” Day 334 (Saturday)

Snow fun!

The weekend rolled in with invigorating temperatures in the mid-20s. There is still a lot of snow on the ground from the three snowstorms in ten days. It all combined for a good day for snowshoeing.

Despite the chilly weather, trudging through the snow builds heat. Thank goodness for layers and zippers that also got a workout today. Get warm, unzip. Turn a corner into a breeze and zip back up. By the time we had done the first half lap of the field I was sweating. As we trekked through the fields and the woods, I was sweating and my two-layer jacket system was zipped and unzipped dozens of times. The worst thing about sweating in cold weather is when the movement stops and sweat gets cold. So gross.  

Chillin' at the pavilion.

There were six of us playing in the snow this week. Four were on snow shoes, two on cross-country skis. We all know each other from dancing with the same dance studio in our youth, but our age differences put us in different classes back then. We dance together now when schedules permit. There is a core group that danced outside under the pavilion at Saima Park throughout the fall, but I am not quite that hardy and wimped out once it started getting cold.

It was very relaxed. Through our masks we chatted about a range of topics. Some of us are caring for elder parents or spouses. Some of us are working remotely, including teaching.  There was conversation about our various aches and pains from sitting on dining chairs not comfortable for an eight hour stretch, or home office chairs chosen more for looks before knowing it would be sat upon five days a week for nearly a year. Shoulder and neck pain is currently popular in our little group.

The snow excursions let us interact with the cold and snow on our own terms. It makes winter fun, first with the anticipation of it, then with the doing of it. It provides control and a sense of accomplishment. This is not bad for strapping on the modern version of snow walking contraptions that Wikipedia says were first developed thousands of years ago.